My N Long Beach duplex might have a vacancy soon. I am open to seller financing for this one, have 69k left on the mrtg. Would it be smoother if I pay off the mrtg 1st? What kind of terms do you think would be good? Who handles the paperwork? What companies "service (?)" or handle the payments? I think I heard they will handle the foreclosure, too, if it becomes necessary? What details do you think I should consider?

A lot depends on your current financial situation, how close you are to retirement age 65? 67? etc. Before you do a deal it's a good idea to sit with your CPA and financial adviser to see what different scenarios will do to your overall tax situation.

That said, and with increasing layoffs in many companies due to AI taking over some jobs, I'd be careful because there's nothing like thinking you have a good deal only to find out that the buyer gets laid off.

For me, I prefer to give them an option to buy for 6 months at a time. This does not give them any equity in the place like a land contract or contract for deed or owner financing. They get their act together and get a bank loan. If you prefer owner financing, talk with your CPA, etc and see what amount down works for your situation (maybe 29 percent, maybe some other percentage.) You just do not want them to put a small down and then lose their job and then you have to spend a fortune to evict them plus maybe a year or two with no money coming in while they drag it out. RobertJ is in Los Angeles and I've seen him post some info on here talking about owner financing in the past.

Also, with the current govt in Calif, you know the rules change plus judges that may favor one person over another always means there are no guarantees.

Your total situation should be factored into the decision.

We use a third party collection escrow company. They charge a nominal monthly fee that we split between the buyer and seller. They collect and distribute the money, send me monthly statements and the annual statements. I've only used them as a buyer, never a seller, so I'm not sure if they help in the foreclosure process.

The terms were detailed in the sales agreement and the escrow company is named in it. We always use the same company.

By carrying back the First Mortgage, I'm made serious money on these deals. I have a few basic rules you should follow:

1) A pre-payment penalty if paid back within the first 10 years. Six months un-earned interest.

2) Insurance in both names, buyer and seller.

3) Late fee's. 10% if check not received and cleared by the 15th of the month.

4) Buyer can NOT take out a Second Mortgage.

You have the potential gold mine. But that also become a disaster too. It is tough to tell you what to do without knowing if this would be an owner-occupied transaction, or what the numbers on your existing loan look like.

But here are my initial thoughts -

Assuming your first has a lower interest rate than what you are offering, you can EXPAND that spread by doing a wrap note instead of just a standard owner will carry note. The wrap says pay a first and pay a second both at the same rate. The first will be for say a $65,000 first and then a $800,000 second. These two notes amortize at the same length and at the same rate. The difference, you keep these payments for the full length of your note instead of until it is paid off.

After all, you worked hard to pay down that loan to get it down to $65,000. You should be getting those extra payments directly to you for those extra 20 plus years. The difference in your financial calculator is six figures extra in additional payments to you.

If you are going to the convention, find me and I can explain how you are making these extra six figures. Wrap around financing works well. It pairs up with land trust too so you work around Prop 13 making you place worth even more.

...Making the deed personal property instead of real property ...